By Derek Shore (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
CASSVILLE, Mo. — Lamar’s boys did Tiger things while Springfield Catholic’s girls made history at the Big 8 Conference Cross Country Meet on Tuesday at the Cassville Aquatic Center.
BOYS RACE
For the second straight season, Lamar captured the boys title. The Tigers, placing four runners in the top 30, won with 78 points.
“It’s great,” Lamar coach Rodney Baldridge said. “It was a little surprising. We weren’t seeded first going in. We were probably projected to get second, so that makes it a little more special.
“We lost three seniors in our top six from last year. So we had a little rebuilding to do. I’m proud of how our kids performed today.”
Rogersville (99) and Springfield Catholic (119) were the second and third place teams. East Newton’s Chase Sorrell won the individual conference championship with a time of 16 minutes, 26 seconds.
Rounding out the top five were Marshfield’s Zach Mitchell (17:02), Lamar’s duo of Cameron Bailey (17:48) and Ryder Friend (18:02) along with Rogersville’s Ryder Randles (18:04).
“They were fighters today,” Baldridge said of Bailey and Friend. “They just fought to get those spots.”
Finishing sixth through 10th was Marshfield’s Jake Mitchell, Springfield Catholic’s Kyle Hathcock, Cassville’s Ethan Bohmke, Lamar’s Pierce Heins and Reeds Springs’ Max Hirschi. Rogersville’s Landon Fawcett took 11th, followed by East Newton’s Nicholas Shaeffer, Rogersville’s Owen White, Nevada’s Aidan Ryan and Springfield Catholic’s Clayton Eck to round out the top 15.
Lamar’s David Dunham took 29th, while teammates Garin Schneider, Elijah Morrison and Tanner Fowler were 34th, 40th and 45th, respectively.
“Our backend guys really ran well,” Baldridge said. “Our four, five, six, seven runners ran well today. It was good.”
GIRLS RACE
Springfield Catholic’s team motto is to seize the day.
The Fighting Irish certainly did not disappoint on Tuesday as Springfield Catholic claimed its first conference title in 10 years. Paced by the individual champion Emma Belk, the Fighting Irish slotted six runners inside the top 23 and outpaced second-place Lamar by a 40-59 score.
“They knew they had an opportunity to do something we haven’t done in quite awhile … win a conference championship,” Springfield Catholic coach Nick Russo said. “They ran as hard as they were capable of running, and it showed in the results. We beat a good Lamar team. I couldn’t be any more proud of this group.”
Belk became an individual conference champion thanks to a time of 21:09. Oh, and she’s just a sophomore and cross country is arguably not even her best sport.
“Last year, Emma ran one race,” Russo said. “She won that race as a freshman and pulled a growth plate muscle. She was out the remainder of the year. She told me this year she was probably not going to run because she was close to Olympic qualifying time as a swimmer. She is a fraction of a second away from that. But we got it worked out where she got the practices in.
“She came out and this is her fourth race. She’s won each of the last two races. I anticipated she would win this race. She’s a smart runner, and she ran a smart race. She didn’t go out too fast. She knew when she needed to go. She made it look easy.”
Cassville’s Jadyn Williams was the runner-up with a time of 21:30, followed by East Newton’s Brooklyn Blanchard (21:44) in third, Lamar’s Abigail Diggs (21:50) fourth and Mt. Vernon’s Rylee Simons (22:02) fifth.
Finishing sixth through 10th included Springfield Catholic’s Katie Galligos, McDonald County’s Kate Cheney, Nevada’s Brynley Hedges and Lamar’s duo of Carly Dunham and Leilani Toves. Marshfield’s Skylee Lamkey was 11th, followed by Rogersville’s Ella Sigrist in 12th, Springfield Catholic’s duo of Eliana Lygrisse and Kate Hull in 13th and 14th along with Monett’s Mary Jastal in 15th.
Also competing for the Fighting Irish was Macie Kelly (21st), Kaya McClanahan (23rd) and Mary Sharp (37th).
“They did what I thought they could do today,” Russo said. “I think we are peaking at the right time. I have had some good groups. I’ve coached state championship teams. This group is as pleasurable as any group I’ve had the opportunity to work with.”
Cassville took third with 83 points.
